Jewish Republicans See Obama as 1-Termer
Chapter labels president as anti-Israel as it weighs GOP prospects at Skokie gathering.
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Between analyzing the electoral prospects of Republican presidential candidates and ridiculing the "level of mental illness among liberal Jews," members of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) gathered in Skokie last week to discuss how they could help defeat President Obama in 2012.
The standing-room only crowd came from throughout Illinois to fill a conference room at Holiday Inn, where they listened to political analysts and Republican scholars offer political red meat against Obama, whom one speaker accused of being "more pro-Palestinian than the Palestinians."
Michael Menis, president of RJC's Chicago chapter, told Skokie Patch that his group was alarmed at Obama's policies toward Israel.
"There's concern in the Jewish community as far as President Obama's allegiance to the United States' long-time ally Israel," he said. "Through his rhetoric and his actions, he seems to have departed from the policy that we've seen coming from other presidential administrations since the creation of Israel in 1949."
Menis said the meeting's heavy turnout on June 23 was a good indication that RJC members could be invaluable in helping efforts to elect a GOP president in 2012.
About 200 people signed up for the conference, but turnout exceeded that, prompting organizers to add more seats. But even with that, some participants were left standing in the back.
In an interview, Richard Baehr, chief political correspondent for the American Thinker, told Skokie Patch that while he expected Obama to receive a majority of the Jewish votes, it would be fewer than in 2008 when he defeated his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Baehr noted that in 2008, Obama received about 78 percent of the Jewish vote. Next year, he said, Obama might see a number closer to what former President Jimmy Carter received in 1980 against Ronald Reagan, the former California governor and GOP candidate. Carter, a Democrat, got less than 50 percent of the Jewish vote in his losing bid for re-election.
"There are people who are beginning to see shades of Carter in the way Obama is behaving towards Israel," Baehr said, adding that Carter has been "hostile" toward Israel during and after his presidency.
Because the Jewish vote only comprises 2 percent of all voters, it would have less impact on the electoral outcome than Christian groups that are strong supporters of Israel, the columnist said during his speech. He said those critical groups could tilt the election in favor of a Republican.
At one point in his speech, Baehr told the animated crowd about how states with large percentages of Jewish voters, such New York and Illinois, could be swayed and then quipped about the "level of mental illness among liberal Jews."
Baehr also said that except for Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, all Republican presidential candidates were more friendly to Israel than the current president.
Professor Eugene Kontorovich of Northwestern University told the crowd that Obama's Israeli policy was "egregious in so many ways."
He said that by pushing Israel to negotiate with Palestine's unified Hamas and Fatah leadership, Obama was telling Israel to "chop off your head."
Matthew RJ Brodsky, director of policy for the Jewish Policy Center in Washington, said that Obama was "making an excellent job" in representing the Palestinians and was more "pro-Palestinian" than the people from Palestine."
This contention, however, has been widely debunked by many respected scholars and journalists.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has been among those to challenge the accusation. He told Charlie Rose during an interview last week that criticism that Obama was anti-Israel "is pure crap."
"It's all nonsense," Friedman said, adding that Obama has been as pro-Israel as past U.S. presidents
"Israel today has the most in-bred, unimaginative government I think it has ever had," the journalist said in laying the blame on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure to advance the peace process with the Palestinians.
"What is Bibi Netanyahu's plan?" Friedman asked.
As for the crowd gathered in Skokie, they were one in saying Obama should go. When asked by Menis if "Israel can survive another Obama term?" The audience hollered its response, "No!"
Clark Kent
1:59 pm on Monday, June 27, 2011
Interesting that the local RJC is apparently unanimous about Obama. Sad thing is that it seems to be based solely upon his "support" record for Israel.
What are the RJC concerns about what Obama is doing to AMERICANS and their health insurance, taxes, pension defaults by government, illegal immigration, bailouts for Goldman-Sachs and others, Dream Acts, entitlement programs, mortgage dilemmas, high credit-card interest rates, US military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, unemployment, and the myriad hosts of other problems?
I remember the 2010 congressional election "debate" between Democrat Schakowsky and Republican Pollak. Most of their verbal energies were spent on trying to convince us voters who would do a better job for Israel. My interest is who would do a better job for the Ninth District tax-payers. In the end, I refused to vote for either of them. My litmus test is what is the quality of representation for me- the voter, tax-payer and citizen.
When there is no competitive electoral race, We the People lose. Competition in politics, as in economics, brings a better quality item. There seldom is much i our area. I never have to ponder why Crook County is so dominated by low-brow politicos; there is no competition for our vote...only a succession of glad-handing, verbose, single-issue candidates who promise everything to everybody but deliver only high taxes, chaos and a bleak future.
Bob Levi
8:06 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Didn't Israel become a state in 1948 not 1949 as someone was quoted as saying?
When I see inaccurate statements like that, I wonder about the validity of other statements.
Clark Kent
9:53 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Very interesting comment...OK... I'm awake again..........
While you were bobbing around examining the accuracy and veracity in others, you failed to notice that in your Patch bio you used the word "virtuatlly" which more cerebral denizens, or even bright first-graders, might assume should have been "virtually." The date change was obviously an "anti-Semitic" petard since an "8" on a keyboard is located so far from a "9" thus demonstrating yet another possible attempt by crypto-Nazis to use Goebbels' propaganda techniques to soften brains for some future intellectual Kristallnacht.
As to your banausic observation...when I see inaccurate items like that, I wonder about the validity of other items.
Wm Smith
12:10 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
israel is just another foreign country. it is not some sacred cow. they have done much that should be held up to a critical light. over the years they have subjected the palestinians to much of the same kind of treatment the nazis subjected the jews to. it does not become ok , because jews are doing it. due to media control in the west, we do not hear much about that kind of activity but, if you read online issues of non-western publications you'll find it. even israeli papers give more information than the western media. on u.s. college campases you can constructively critize any country in the world even america, but, many college professors are afraid to allow any critical discussion of israel in their classes. some have been fired for doing so, even though the discussions were of a constructive nature. that just can not be right. when a group starts to display such an arrogant attitude toward others, it could lead to another nazi like country. israel seems to headed in that direction.
steve shay
10:58 am on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
That's pretty good. It only took eight comments before someone broke Godwin's Law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
I believe that in this early stage of the 2012 presidential campaign it is valid for any members of any coalition to gather and unify behind one ideal in order to most effectively send the president a strong message. I also feel that a president's, or other candidate's, perspective on Israel is a window into that candidate's wider vision on all such topics of terrorism, justice, our energy policy, Iran's nuclear weapons program, and so on.
steve shay
1:59 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wm Smith: Today media is a global phenomena. Nobody controls all media content in the west. Any citizen of a western country can go online and learn what is happening in non-western countries, and vice versa. People in western cities hold pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel demonstrations and are protected by law enforcement and the freedom of speech. Nobody is hushing them. The irony of your argument is that in fact the rioting in the streets of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and other non-Jewish, Semitic nations is due to THEIR access to media information from western nations who offer freedom of the press.
Wm Smith
8:03 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
steve shay, check the ownership of the main stream media in the u.s. it is controlled by folks who are loyal to a particular foreign gov't. some have openly expresssed that loyalty. the american public, for the most part gets only one side of the story from the middle east. if the average citizen bothered to check other sources, you would see the support for israel fade. this would be a definite plus for the u.s. and the world.
Wm Smith
7:46 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
rjc , stop being ruled by your childhood conditioning israel is not a sacred cow. if you have spent most of your life in the u.s. your loyalty should be to the u.s. . not some far away foreign gov't, hitler has been dead for years hasn't he
steve shay
8:51 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
OMG. I can't believe I spent the energy responding to Wm Smith. Oye Vey. Next story, PLEASE.
Wm Smith
10:01 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
OMG ! steve maybe you responded because, inspite of your conditioning, you can stiil recognize truth. the middle east is a two sided story. all of the Oye Veys you can utter won't change that.
Dee Emm
12:17 am on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
There are Republican Jews? I thought they were all liberals (at least) or communists (more often) Kind of surprised by this conference.
Patch Reader
11:00 am on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
I am APPALLED and EMBARRASSED by the ignorant comments written in response to this article. Hey folks, go buy a white good and burn some crosses while you're at it!
Andrew
7:29 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
A number of years back, I came across an article with maps of Israel in 1948 and today. It also chronicled what was seized from Palestine and when.
I was shocked.
I had always supported Israel, because I recognized Jews had been persecuted in and chased out of every country they inhabited. But. Upon further investigation after seeing that map (yes, history is not my strong suit), I was further SHOCKED to discover that the last time "Israel" had occupied that land was almost 2000 years ago. WHAT?
Anyone want to give the United States back to the Native Americans? Mexico back to the Mayans? England back to the Romans?
With that new information, I still believed the creation of Israel was important, but really-- they devoured an existing nation to do it. This wasn't some unoccupied land out in South Dakota somewhere. This was a populated area and "poof" now it was "Israel" again after two THOUSAND years.
Some of the current residents were foolish enough to attack Israel. Commence bullying of Palestine into oblivion.
The position and myopia of many Jewish Americans is amazing to me. Israel. Israel. Israel. And some of them have never left the state of Illinois. Yes, a Jewish state needs to exist. No, that doesn't mean they can annihilate Palestine and ask the US to help do it.
As far as I can tell, Israel is way better at national security than the US anyway. They don't need our help. And yes, they need to place nice and stay out of their neighbor's (stolen) yard.
Wm Smith
9:16 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
andrew, pull up a map of 'greater israel', palestine is just the beginning. there are many more countries to be depopulated. those other folks are just not going to give up their land and disappear. that means more wars to come,more money spent on these senseless wars that do not benefit america.
HOLLY SIGMAN
8:44 pm on Sunday, July 8, 2012
Obama is no friend to Israel. Vote Romney